Container



March 30, 1937. H. K. POWELL CONTAINER Filed May 6. 1955 2 Sheets-Sheetl Mach 30, 1937. H. K. POWELL 2,075,465

CONTA INER Filed May 6, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 30, 1937CONTAINER UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE tralia Application May 6, 1935,Serial No. 19,915

2 Claims.

tubular container which may be employed for packaging ice cream and`thelike and which may.

be constructed entirely of paper board or similar material.

.15 A further object isY the provision of a container;

of the type-describedhaving a novel and eiiective bottom interlockingstructure.

\ These andothverl objects willbeobserved upon a consideration of'the'following description `of the invention and'by reference to,l theaccompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a fragmentary outside view ofa coni tainer constructed in accordance/.with the invention;, ,w; Fig. 2is a top view of a bottomm'emberfor interlocking with .the containershown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the blank from which the body portion of thecontaineris constructed; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view takenalong line 4 4 of Fig. 1 and showing the inter.-

locking tabs in position to be secured to the body portion of thecontainer;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view .similar to Fig. 4 and shows theinterlocking mechanism in secured relation;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 and shows a modified method ofinterlocking the' bottom.

member to the'body portion of the container;l

Fig. 'l is a plan view of a modified form of the 40 container in whichthe bottom member is integrally secured to the body portion;

,- Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken Containers of this typehave replaced metallicv containers to a considerable extent inthe icecream industry. As will be recognized, important factors i'n the successof this type of container are the ease with which the bottom may besecured to the body portion of the container and the effectiveness ofthe resulting interlocking.

The container of the present invention may be erected or set up fromcollapsed condition by hand and in such condition is suiiiciently sturdyto withstand hard use. The improved container is constructed byproviding a fibrous body portion of the usual type with interlockingopenings adjacent its end portion and producing a suitable interlockbetween this body portion and a bottom member having a series of fingersalong its periphery. As shown in the drawings, one set of the n'gersextends upwardly adjacent the inner wall of the body portion and theother set of the fingers is interlocked with the body portion. An innerbottom member is pressed into engagement with the first mentioned set oftongue members and it is preferred to employ .an inner body portion toadd further strength to the assembled container. A

The embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 1 consists of a bodyportion I0 constructed of a blank cut, scored and folded as shown inFig. 3 to provide a locking strip II on each end of the blank, verticalscore lines I2, and a series o'f bottom interlocking slots I3 adjacentthe lower end of the container. 'Ihe body portion'is produced bysuitably securing together the opposite attaching aps Il so that thebody portion assumes a tubular form which may be collapsed by'beingflattened along diametrically opposite score lines I2. The bottom memberis formed is provided with a first series of tongues I5 which areadapted to lie adjacent the inner wail of the body portion and a secondset of tongues I6 which may be interlocked with the openings Il of thebody portion. The diameter of the disk I4 is substantially the same asthe inside diameter of the body portion. Tongues I5 are scored at theirpoint of jointure to the disk Il, and thc tongues IB may be scoredadditionally at a slightly extended distance from the center of thedisk.

It will be noted that the tongues- I6 in the embodiment shown in Figs.1, 2 and 4 are of less length than the tongues I5. '1111s difference inlength may be used to advantage in erecting the container. That is, thebody portion may be distended into tubular formation and the disk I4 maybe pressed downwardly therein from the top 'of a disk Il, such as isshown in Fig. 2. The disk of the body portion. This downward pressurecauses both sets of tongues to fold upwardly. The disk I4 may beprogressively pressed downwardly in the body portion of the containeruntil 5 the shorter tongues I6 escape from the lower edge of the bodyportion, As the tongues I5 are longer than the tongues I6, the formerwill still be retained within the body portion. The resilience oftongues I6 will cause them to move outwardly l from within the bodyportion and the disk then may be pressed upwardly in the body portion luntil the bases of tongues I6 engage the lower edge of the body portion.Tongues IB then may be interlocked in openings I3 in the customary 15manner with interlocking elements of this type.

That is, adjacent tongues I6 may be pressed together in overlappingrelation and then inserted in the openings I3. Upon spreading thetongues apart an interlock is effected. 20 An inner body member I1,which may be formed of a blank similar to that shown in Fig. 3, buthaving a series of tongues I8, as shown in Fig. 8, along its lower edge,then may be inserted within the body portion and the fingers 25 ortongues I8 may be rotated inwardly into the position shown in Figs. 5, 6and 8. 'I'hat is, the inner body member is inserted within the outerbody member with the tongues I8 resting adjacent the disk I4. An innerbottom member I9 30 then may be inserted within the inner body portionand pressed downwardly against the tongues I8. Preferably, this innerbottom member is slightly oversized so as to frictionally engage thetongues I between the inner and outer 35 body portions. This frictionalengagement is increased when the container is lled with a commodity suchas frozen ice cream.

In the modied form of the invention shown in Fig. 6 the tongue membersI6 also lie along the 40 inner surface of the body portion and extendoutwardly through the openings I3. In this embodiment the lower portionsof tongues I6 are protected by the lower edge of the body portion.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in 45 Figs. 'l to 11, thetongue members I5 are of substantially the same length as the tonguemembers I6, and one pair of the tongue members IB is replaced by anintegral connection of the disk I l to the body member I0 along a scoreline 20. 50 The disk Il may be rotated about score line 20 intosuperimposed relation with respect to the body portion Ill, and thesecuring flaps II then may be stapled together. The container may beerected merely by rotating the disk I4 down- 55 wardly intosubstantiallyhorizontal position. In such cases, the ngers I5 areinterlocked with the openings I3 on the body portion from the inner sideof the latter, as shown in Fig. 6. I! the disk I4 is not secured withinthebody portion as 60 described, the blank may be formed into tubularshape by securing naps I I together and the container may be erected byrotating fingers I5 inwardly to such an extent that they will protrudeupwardly into the body portion when the disk Il is rotated intohorizontal position. The ngers I6 are interlocked with openings I3 fromthe outside of the body portion, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. An innerbottom member I1 having tongues I8 along its lower edge may be insertedwithin the outer body portion as shown in Fig. 8 and an oversized diskor inner bottom member I8 may be inserted to interlock the elementstogether. Where the outer bottom member Il is integrally attached to thebody portion I0, as shown in Fig. 10, the ngers I5 adjacent the point ofattachment are shortened.

A particular advantage oI the structure described herein resides in thebracing eil'ect produced by suspending the bottom member directly to thevertical walls of the body portion. The interlocking eiIect of thisarrangement is increased by lling the container with a commodity, and,at the same time, there is produced the frictional engagement of thengers I5 with the body portion. These two types of interlock combine toproduce a sturdy and economical container.

Various changes and modifications of the strucportion through saidopenings, an inner body member having fingers extending adjacent saidclosure member, and an inner disk pressed into engagement with saidinner body member to hold said rst named ngers in frictional engagementwith said body portion.

2. A container of the type described, comprising a tubular body portionhaving openings adjacent one o1' its ends, a closure member ofsubstantially the same diameter as said body portion, a series ofrelatively long ngers and a series of relatively short ngers on saidclosure member, one of said series of vlingers lying adjacent the insideof said body portion and the other of said series of fingers nttingadjacent the exterior of said body portion in interlocker relation withsaid openings, and an inner disk pressing said fingers into engagementwith the body portion of said container.

HENRY K. POWELL.

